Abstract

Most European labour lawyers are currently engaged in a sharp war of words regarding fundamental social rights and their respective roles and functions in the coming new phase of European integration. Two main directions can be identified in the attempt to clarify the content of this debate and in order to look to the future as to new developments. The first has to do with the impact of the controversial rulings of the Court of Justice dealing with collective social rights. The enforcement of these judgments falls into the dangerous trap of proportionality principles and opens up difficult scenarios for judges and social partners alike at the national level when faced with overriding market freedoms.1 Some member states are already active in establishing new rules for the game in compliance with the Court’s judgments, while still reserving the autonomy of collective bargaining.2 The second direction is imposed by the economic and financial crisis. The word 'solidarity' appears in recent European sources, referring either to urgent measures that need to be adopted,3 or as a derogation of previous sources to provide immediate help to workers who have lost their jobs as a 'direct result of the global financial and economic crisis'.4 These two directions run parallel to each other, as collective social rights are, in the best consolidated European tradition, pivotal to the achievement of solidarity and social justice.